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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25403215">But I'm a hunter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticEmoPigeon/pseuds/ChaoticEmoPigeon'>ChaoticEmoPigeon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Failed) conversion therapy, Biphobia, F/F, F/M, Gay!Benny, Gay!Castiel, Gay!Meg, Homophobia, M/M, Swearing, Trans!Tom, Transphobia, bisexual!dean, conversion therapy, true directions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:08:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25403215</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticEmoPigeon/pseuds/ChaoticEmoPigeon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is sent to true directions conversion camp by his father, in a desperate effort to turn him "normal".<br/>Obviously this doesn't work, but how is Dean to get out of this nightmare?<br/>Find out at five.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester, Destiel, Ellen Harvelle/Jody Mills</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. First Arrival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just your final warning that there is a large amount of homo/trans/biphobia so yep. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dean stared out the window of his dad’s car in an effort to block out the words his father was saying. He counted trees passing by emptily, with his only thoughts being how dead he was going to be when he got home, if he ever did.<br/>Sam poked him “we’re here”<br/>Dean looked over at him and faked a smile “great” <br/>He knew he had to stay strong for his little brother, if nothing else. <br/>They pulled into the true directions parking lot and were greeted by a stern looking woman dressed all in pink and a strong, tall man dressed in a blue tank top and short shorts.<br/>Dean rolled his eyes, this is where his father thought he was going to be ‘fixed’? This was nothing more than a scam.<br/>The trio walked into the main office, following the creepy woman and her buff son.<br/>“I’m Mary” the woman offered her hand with a sickly sweet smile “and this is my son, rock”<br/>Dean snorted, but covered it up after one look from his father <br/>“That’s my late wife’s name” John shook her hand “It’s nice to meet you”<br/>“This is the patient, I assume?” Mary pointed at Sam<br/>“Uh, no” Dean pushed Sam behind him “that would be me, I’m the bitch” <br/>Another warning look from John.<br/>“Well” Mary turned to him “let’s get you started, shall we?”<br/>“Sure” Another fake smile “just let me say goodbye to my family”<br/>John opened his arms for a hug but Dean ignored him and went straight to Sam <br/>“You take care of yourself” He said, ruffling his brother’s hair “If I get home and you’ve done something stupid you’re dead.”<br/>“Yeah, right” Sam laughed “I’d like to see you try”<br/>John grabbed Dean’s shoulder “you better come home normal”<br/>“Fuck off” Dean picked up his bag and followed Mary out of the office, flipping his father off on the way.</p><p>“Step 1” Mary said “admitting you’re a homosexual”<br/>“I’m not” Dean crossed his arms “I’m Bi, there’s a difference, lady”<br/>“Bisexuals are just lying to themselves” Mary leaned in the desk “to pass step one you have to admit you’re a homo”<br/>“How about no?” Dean leaned in too “I don’t even want to be here”<br/>“Alright them,” Mary pushed what looked like a hospital gown across the desk “put these on. When you complete step 1 I will let you resume wearing civvies.”<br/>Dean groaned but took the clothes.<br/>“This is Meg, she’ll be showing you around, explaining the schedule.” Mary gestured toward a short girl with bleached hair “Meg, show Dean around camp”<br/>Meg smiled, but as soon as Mary shut the door, her expression quickly turned into a scowl <br/>“Welcome to hell” She pointed at the blue cabin neighboring the office “you’ll sleep there with the rest of the guys. Rise and shine at 7:30, group is at 8, and then ‘training’ begins.” <br/>“Training?”<br/>“Sexist bullshit designed to keep us playing our parts.” She rolled her eyes “but the good news is we have free time after lunch. Family therapy is on weekends”<br/>Dean scoffed “good luck getting my dad to show up.”<br/>Meg laughed “Amen to that, my dad doesn’t even know I’m here. Mom has us this summer but I guess we’re too gay to stay home.”<br/>“Us?” <br/>“My twin brother, Tom is here too.” She pointed to a scrawny, dark haired boy in a pink dress across the lawn “He’s trans, so apparently that needs to be fixed. Stupid mom.”<br/>“And you’re here because?”<br/>“I’m a lesbian. Duh.”<br/>“Of course” Dean scanned the lawn, “I’m bi,”<br/>“I figured. It’s the attitude”<br/>“Attitude?” Dean raised an eyebrow <br/>Just then she spotted someone from across the field<br/>“Clarence!” She waved at the boy “Hey!”<br/>Meg turned back to Dean “That’s Cas, he’s kinda shy, so I’ve been protecting him this past two weeks, keeping him out of Mary’s view, etc. I call him Clarence”</p><p> </p><p>Cas saw the girl waving at him and began to walk over. He hated this place, and everything it stood for. He knew there was nothing wrong with him, but his foster parents disagreed. He also knew if his siblings heard where he was they’d bust him out, but he had no way to contact them. It was a completely and utterly hopeless situation. At least for now he had Meg, and Tom, kind of, even though it was obvious he didn’t like Cas very much.</p><p>“Hey Clarence” Meg put a hand on Dean’s shoulder “this is Dean something or other”<br/>“Winchester” Dean whispered<br/>“Dean winchester, then. He’s new, mind showing him around?”<br/>“Sure” Cas gave a suspicious glance towards Meg, who was grinning like an idiot “come with me”<br/>Meg winked at Dean as he walked away. Barely ten minutes into this nightmare and things were already weird.<br/>Cas opened the door to the boys cabin and let Dean pass him “this is our room, your bed is the one in the corner”<br/>The room was decorated in varying shades of blues and browns, with pictures of men doing ‘manly’ things on the wall. <br/>Dean pointed at one of a lumberjack “they think this is going to turn us straight?”<br/>“That’s what it seems” A tall boy was sitting on the bed next to Dean’s “my name’s Andy, by the way”<br/>Dean offered his hand to shake “Dean”<br/>“What are you in for?” Andy smiled <br/>“I got caught sneaking a boy out of my window.” Dean shoved the bible on the pillow under the bed “you?”<br/>“Came out to my supposedly liberal parents” he sighed “turns out that sons of governors aren’t supposed to be gay, they’re just supposed to say it’s okay”<br/>Dean grimaced “rough”<br/>“The people here say they can fix us though”<br/>“You believe that?” Dean was surprised<br/>“I just want my dad to be happy” Andy opened up a magazine</p><p>Dean could relate to that. He had spent 17 years of his life trying to please his father, and he had spent 17 failing. Maybe during those first four years, when Sam was either nonexistent or a very small baby, before his mother had died, he had done something his father would be proud of, but that was too far back to remember. The truth is John was never happy. Sometimes Dean wondered what the world would be like if nothing had ever happened to his mom, if maybe she would accept him for who he was. Sam said she probably would, but Sam was too young to really remember.</p><p>Dean looked down and remembered he was wearing the thin gray clothes <br/>“Great” he muttered “just wonderful”<br/>“Time for group” A disgruntled looking redhead popped her head in the door “initiation time, freaks and geeks”<br/>Dean followed Cas and Andy out to a yellow room with a semicircle of chairs in it. There was a solitary chair in the center, facing the rest of them</p><p>Mary adjusted her pencil skirt and watched the young folk file in the room in a silent line<br/>‘Delinquents’ she thought to herself. It really was too bad they had been exposed to homosexuality. She could save them, though. She and god saved Rock, didn’t they?<br/>Of course, she was wrong. Rock was sleeping with Mike, the only other counselor, and homosexuality isn’t something to be cured, but there was just no talking to that woman.</p><p>“Welcome all” She put on that smile again, it gave Dean shivers for some reason “today we’ll be introducing ourselves to our new member, if you would all state your name and a fact about yourself, that would be lovely”<br/>She pointed at Meg “will you start, dear?”<br/>“Sure” Meg’s smile rivaled Mary’s “My name is Meg, my father runs a highly successful business, and I am a homosexual” <br/>Mary nodded towards Tom, who took a cautious breath “my name is Tom-”<br/>“Start again” Mary made a note on her clipboard “with your real name, this time”<br/>“My name is Tom” He said through gritted teeth “I play lacrosse”<br/>Mary gripped his shoulder and pulled him out of the room, with Meg following close behind<br/>It was quiet<br/>“We should continue” Andy said after a moment “My name is Andy, I’m on my school’s debate team, and I am a homosexual”</p><p>Dean was a little too preoccupied with making sure Meg and Tom were okay to really pay attention to anything anyone was saying.</p><p>“My name is Charlie, I love lord of the rings, and I’m a homosexual”<br/>“My name is Castiel, I am one of 8 siblings, and I’m a homosexual”<br/>“My name is blah blah blah, I am blah blah blah, and I’m a homosexual”<br/>And on, and on.</p><p> </p><p>He only came to when he noticed it was his turn <br/>“My name is Dean, I like to hunt, and I’m bisexual.”<br/>“Doesn’t Mary say…” A kid in the back started<br/>“I know what Mary says, and it’s crap, am I the last one?” <br/>Cas nodded,<br/>“Great” Dean got up and walked out the door to where Mary was reprimanding the twins<br/>“Mary? I admit it, I’m a homosexual, can I get my clothes back now?”<br/>“Of course!” she wrapped him up in a hug before he could protest “I am so proud of you”<br/>“Whatever lady” he subtly made a face at Meg that meant to say ‘get your brother out of here’ but ended up looking like ‘I’m a panicked mongoose’<br/>She took the opportunity anyway, and whisked Tom off towards the girl’s cabin</p><p>“I told you that one was good” Meg laughed, jumping on to her bed <br/>“He barely did anything!” Tom protested <br/>“Oh don’t be so cynical” she dove under her bed “I stored your binder somewhere, I know I did”<br/>“You brought it?” <br/>“Yeah” she popped her head up for a second “duh. 2 months without it? I know how you are.”<br/>“I thought mom stuffed it in her closet as soon as we got there.”<br/>“Dad sent an extra” she pulled it up and tossed it to her brother “here we are”<br/>Meg scanned the room “now we just need a way to call Dad. he’d come get us.”<br/>“But mom has us this summer”<br/>“Do you see mom anywhere? That’s what I thought. This should be illegal.”<br/>Just then Charlie walked in the room “hi guys”<br/>“Charlie!” Tom exclaimed “Look what Meg brought me!” <br/>He proudly held up the binder<br/>“Nice!” Charlie bounced onto the end of his bed “now what are we going to do about that hair, legolas?”<br/>“It is getting long, isn’t it” Tom held a strand out with a disappointed face “I think Mary would kill us if we cut it, though”<br/>“Pssh” Charlie held up a pair of scissors “Miss supreme leader over there can’t very well glue it back on”<br/>The three of them journeyed to the bathroom, with Meg keeping a careful eye out for any intruders.</p><p>Meanwhile, in the boys cabin, Cas sat alone, reading one of Andy’s historical magazines. He was used to being alone. After his father disappeared and his siblings went into foster care, nobody paid him much attention. At least, not until his foster parents found out he was gay. <br/>Just then, the new guy, Dean, walked in. He had changed into the standard uniform and looked very uncomfortable, although cute, Cas remarked to himself. <br/>Dean had never been in a more awkward situation. The clothes he was wearing made him feel like one of his cousin’s baby dolls. He walked into the bathroom and studied his surroundings. The room was blue, like everything else, and had pictures of guns and axes on the wall <br/>“In the bathroom?” Dean thought aloud “really?”<br/>“Yeah” A gruff boy around his height stepped out from one of the stalls behind him “They’re everywhere”<br/>He washed his hands in the sink next to Dean “the name’s Benny”<br/>Dean adjusted his baby blue tie with disdain “I’m Dean”</p><p>In the other room Cas brushed the hair out of his eyes as he watched the pair greet each other. “well” he sighed “I guess it’s gonna be like that”<br/>He cracked open a random book and tried to ignore the universe</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. what am I even doing here?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dean has been swept up in this weird group and a rescue mission makes everything more fun!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this chapter is so short! I've been so distracted this week. next weeks will be longer, probably.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Meg was out behind the model house, drawing. It wasn’t her strong suit by any means but it was a release from the general feeling of *blech* that the world caused. She was drawing her family, or was attempting to. Again, not her strong suit. She had drawn her father and herself already, and her brother was halfway done. Her mom was a gray blob in the background, her face scratched out. <br/>“Hey” Cas slid down against the wall <br/>“Hey Clarence” Meg gave a half smile “where’s new guy?”<br/>“With Benny” He sighed “of course”<br/>“Benny?” Meg was surprised “when did they meet?”<br/>“In the bathroom about an hour ago” He poked at the ground with a stick “they’ve been talking ever since”<br/>“I see” Meg shut her sketchbook “what are you doing saturday night?”<br/>“Sleeping, most likely.” he said monotonly  <br/>“Great” She scribbled something onto a post it and got up “then we should sneak out”</p><p>Dean hadn’t ever met anyone so similar to himself. Benny was just like him, he had an overbearing, borderline abusive father, and a younger sibling he had to protect. The two of them ended up talking for hours, barely noticing when Charlie stopped by to remind them of dinner.<br/>“Knock knock” Meg sauntered into the boys cabin “hey boys”<br/>Benny turned to her, a smile hiding on his face “well now young lady, you shouldn’t be in here, it’s inappropriate”<br/>“Good” Meg grabbed Dean’s arm “It’s time for dinner and if the two of you aren’t fireside in 2 minutes Mary’s going to beat you into next week”<br/>“Fair enough” Benny got up and followed them towards the ‘cafeteria’</p><p>What they called the cafeteria was actually just a couple of round tables and a cart filled with whatever the food of the day was. It was located out behind the sports field (boys only, you know) in a little patch of trees.</p><p>Dean was dragged all the way over there and sat down in between Cas and Benny<br/>“Where’s your brother?” he asked Meg, looking around <br/>“Bathroom” she pointed in the general direction of the bathrooms “he’s hiding from Mary”<br/>“Understandable” Dean poked at his food “what the hell is this?”<br/>“Don’t ask” Benny chuckled “you probably don’t want to know” <br/>Dean shrugged and took a bite anyway <br/>“Has anyone seen Lauren?” Mary burst through the archway “She didn’t report to my office”<br/>Meg whispered something to Castiel, who immediately got up and, as carefully as he could, maneuvered toward the bathrooms</p><p>As soon as he was out of Mary’s sight he ducked behind the building and knocked on the back door to the girl’s cabin <br/>Tom poked his head out “what?”<br/>“Mary’s looking for you” Cas whispered “you were supposed to report to her office?”<br/>“Ugh” Tom rolled his eyes and stepped out of the cabin “yeah, she saw me with my hair cut and tried to lock me in solitary”<br/>“I see” Cas thought for a second “Meg says that she’ll be headed here next”<br/>Just then the sound of high heels clacking on the floor came from behind them <br/>The pair froze <br/>“Go” Tom whispered, “I got this”<br/>Cas nodded and sprinted back to the cafeteria <br/>“Where’s T?” Meg asked when he sat down <br/>“Mary got there before we could get here”<br/>“Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on?” Dean took a bite of the mystery meat “because I am incredibly confused”<br/>“Charlie cut Tom’s hair, which is against the rules I guess” Meg explained “it’s his third strike, plus we got caught with his binder, so he’s facing solitary or expulsion”<br/>“Solitary?” Dean exclaimed “what is this, shawshank?”<br/>“Something like that” Cas said </p><p>“So, this is fun” Dean remarked to Cas as they hunkered down in the grass “is this a regular thing?”<br/>“It hasn’t been long enough to be a regular thing, but yeah” Castiel admitted “for some reason   Mary’s way harder on Tom than on the rest of us”<br/>“Harsh” Dean shook his head “poor kid, he kinda reminds me of my brother”<br/>“You have a brother?” <br/>“Yeah” Dean gave a half smile “he just turned 13. Do you have any siblings?”<br/>“7 of them.” Cas said “Gabe, Anna, Michael, Luci, Balthazar, Zach, and Rafe.”<br/>“Those are some names” Dean laughed “you must miss them”<br/>“You have no idea”<br/>“How long can this woman possibly stay up?”<br/>“She comes and checks on us in the middle of the night sometimes”<br/>“Creepy” Dean pulled his binoculars up “Wait… she’s getting in bed”<br/>“You’re disturbingly good at that” Meg appeared next to him “you must have a lot of practice..”<br/>“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Dean said “we’re doing you a favor here, you’re gonna get us caught”<br/>“I just came to check on you” She pointed at what looked like a doghouse “Tom’s in there, and hurry up”<br/>She got up and snuck back to the cabin</p><p>Dean had no idea what he had gotten himself into. It wasn’t like he really had friends back at home, but he had literally been here a day and was already inducted into this weird cult-like group of weirdos.<br/>He would be lying if he said he didn’t kinda like it.<br/>“Alright” He said after a second “Her lights are off, we’d better go, and quick”</p>
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